Illegal trading of currency, gold to be liable for imprisonment up to 14 years

Illegal trading of currency, gold to be liable for imprisonment up to 14 years

KARACHI: Passengers or crew members found involved in illegal trading of currency, gold or precious stones to be convicted with up to 14 years imprisonment along with huge amount of fine and penalty.

According to explanation by EY Ford Rhodes Chartered Accountants, at present any misdeclaration by any passenger or crew member is treated as an offence of smuggling.

The Finance Bill 2020 proposes to widen this scope and to treat such offender as guilty of an offence under the Customs Act 1969.

It is also proposed to classify the illegal trading of currency, gold, precious metals or stones in any form as smuggling.

Further, in addition to confiscation of goods, the following penalties are proposed for the said offences.

OffencesPenaltiesImprisonment, if convicted
Value of goods (PKR)  
150,001 to 3,000,000Not exceeding the value of goodsUp to 2 years
3,000,001 to 5,000,000Not exceeding twice the value of goodsUp to 3 years
5,000,001 to 7,500,000Not exceeding 3 times the value of goodsUp to 5 years
7,500,001 to 10,000,000Not exceeding 4 times the value of goodsUp to 10 years
Exceeding Rs10,000,000Not exceeding 5 times the value of goodsUp to 14 years and forfeiture of whole or any part of the moveable and immovable assets and property
Value of prohibited goods (currency, gold etc.) US$  
Up to 10,000 or equivalentNot exceeding the value of the goods Up to 2 years
10,001 to 20,000 or equivalentNot exceeding twice the value of goodsUp to 3 years
20,001 to 50,000 or equivalentNot exceeding 3 times the value of goodsUp to 5 years
50,001 to 100,000 or equivalentNot exceeding 4 times the value of goodsUp to 10 years
Exceeding 100,000 or equivalentNot exceeding 5 times the value of goodsUp to 14 years and forfeiture of whole or any part of the movable and immovable assets and property